Amari DeBerry announces transfer to Maryland after three years with UConn women’s basketball

Amari DeBerry entered the transfer portal after three seasons with UConn women’s basketball after the NCAA Tournament, and the former McDonald’s All-American announced her commitment to Maryland on Sunday.

DeBerry was the No. 15 prospect in the Class of 2021 and a McDonald’s All-American, and she is also a two-time gold medalist with USA Basketball. However, the 6-foot-6 forward never found her footing with the Huskies, averaging just over six minutes per game over her career in Storrs. She logged a career-low 4.4 minutes per game in 2023-24 and was ruled out for the final nine games of the season with a concussion suffered in practice before the Big East Tournament.

At Maryland, DeBerry will reunite with former classmate Saylor Poffenbarger , who signed with UConn in the Class of 2021 before transferring to Arkansas in January 2022. Poffenbarger, who is from Middletown, Maryland, entered the portal for the second time in March to join her ‘home’ team. Terrapins coach Brend Frese also signed VCU point guard Sarah Te-Biasu, Rhode Island forward Maye Toure and Rutgers guard Kaylene Smikle from the portal in the last two weeks.

UConn concluded a home-and-home series with an 80-48 rout of Maryland in 2023. The matchup previously ran from 2012-13 and 2015-17 before it was renewed again in 2022.

DeBerry was the first player to transfer out of UConn since 2021-22, and sophomore guard Ines Bettencourt has also since entered the portal. Bettencourt, from Portugal, averaged 5.6 minutes per game last season and has yet to announce a commitment.

The Huskies added their first transfer to the roster since Lou Lopez-Senechal in 2022 on Sunday, landing a commitment from Princeton guard Kaitlyn Chen . Chen was coached by former Husky Carla Berube at Princeton and was one of the top point guards in the portal after back-to-back first-team All-Ivy League selections and three consecutive Most Outstanding Player awards at the conference tournament. She averaged 15.8 points, 3.5 rebounds and a career-high 4.9 assists per game in 2023-24, also shooting a career-best 48.8% from the field.